Introduction 

The following story is an excerpt from a book called 11 minutes by world-renowned author, Paulo Coelho. The story talks about love, death, and separation. That is how when we love something we want to claim it as our own but when we get it, we tend to lose its value and respect. And we again realize its worth when it's lost. The story is in English and I've attempted a literal translation of it to understand the challenges and problems faced while translating a literal text. 

Original version - 

Once upon a time, there was a bird. He was adorned with perfect wings and with glossy, colorful feathers. He was a creature made to fly about freely in the sky, bringing joy to everyone who saw him.

One day, a woman saw this bird and fell in love with him. (...) And she felt envy, envy for the bird's ability to fly. And she thought: "I'm going to set a trap. The next time the bird appears (..)

The bird, who was also in love, returned the following day, fell into the trap, and was put in a cage.

However, a strange transformation began to take place; now that she had the bird and no longer needed to woo him, she began to lose interest.

 

The bird, unable to fly and express the true meaning of his life, began to waste away and his feathers began to lose their gloss; he grew ugly; and the woman no longer paid any attention, except by feeding him and cleaning out his cage.

 

One day, the bird died.

 Literal Translation: 

Il   était une fois , il y’a avait un oiseau . Ornait avec des ailes  parfaits et des plumes colorés. C'était une créature qui devrait voler librement dans le ciel et apportait la joie aux tous qui le voir. Un jour , une femme , l'a vu et elle a tombé amoureux. Elle était jalouse de lui et sa capacité de voler .Elle a pensée “je vais lui piéger, le prochain fois quand il viens “ l'oiseau qui aussi aimé la femme , venait le jour prochain et la femme l'avait mis en cage . Pourtant, avec une transformation , dès que elle avait l'oiseau et elle n'avait pas besoin de lui amadouer , elle a commencé d’en perdre l'intérêt.  

L'oiseau ne pouvait voler et expresser sa but de la vie , commencé à dépérir, ses plumes ont perdu la gloire et il était laide. Là femme arrêtait lui donner l'importance sauf de lui nourrir et nettoyer la cage. 

Un jour l'oiseau était morte.

Inferences of translation 

• Literal translation helps in increased contextualizing of the text with better choice of words, expressions, and phrases 

• It gives more liberty to the translators 

• This approach is more flexible

• There is an apprehension of losing the sense or emotions the author has put in the text 

• Also there is a conflict and challenge to choose the right words so as to retain the original meaning. 

Conclusion:

I prefer the literal translation approach because it does not have restrictions and gives more freedom and space to the translators. As often translating word to word is difficult because not all the words have equivalents in other languages. Understanding the context and the motive of the author also helps to do justice to the literary work.